Saturday 7 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-09-07 Giants-BayStars went 12 innings
Shūta Tonosaki delivered the game winning hit with a solo home run in the top of the 9th inning to give the Seibu Lions another one-run victory over the SoftBank Hawks, this time with a 3-2 score. The home run was Tonosaki's 100th of his career. The Lions, who only managed four hits on the afternoon, were down 2-1 in the 8th when Manaya Nishikawa drove in his second RBI of the game with a single to centerfield scoring Natsuo Takizawa from second base to tie the score at 2-2. Tatsuya Imai struck out nine SoftBank hitters over 7 innings to level his record at 8-8 and increase his NPB-leading strikeout total to 163. Hawks starter Carter Stewart Jr. also threw 7 frames allowing just two hits and three walks while fanning six but did not figure in the decision. Louis Okoye hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Yomiuri Giants a Sayonara 3-2 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The 27 year old Okoye is in his eighth season with the Giants and is one of many hāfu players in NPB: His mother is Japanese while his father is Igbo, from Nigeria. His younger sister Monica Okoye is a member Japan's women's national basketball team and helped them win the silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Giants second baseman Naoki Yoshikawa led all players at the plate going 4-for-7.
Sunday 8 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-09-08 Fighters-Buffaloes went 10 innings
It wasn't one of his better outings but Roki Sasaki did just enough to pick up eighth win of the year as the Lotte Marines defeated the Rakuten Eagles 9-5 in Chiba. Rakuten touched up the Lotte fireballer for three earned runs off seven hits and four walks over 5 innings. Four Eagle players managed to get two hits off Sasaki who tossed 98 pitches in all, with his fastball topping out at 159 kmh. Neftali Soto led the Marines with four RBIs including a two-run home run for number 16 this campaign. Masahiro Nishino was 3-for-6 including the game winning hit in the 10th inning as the Orix Buffaloes blew a 4-0 lead in the 8th but managed to escape with a 5-4 win against the Nippon-Ham fighters. Nippon-Ham pulled one run back in the 8th when Franmil Reyes drove in Gō Matsumoto to make it 4-1. And in the 9th Shun Mizutani knocked in two more runs before Kōtarō Kiyomiya's single to right scored Taiga Egoshi to send the contest into the extra frame. The comeback negated a fine pitching performance by Hiroya Miyagi who fanned 11 batters in 7-2/3 innings but ended up with a no-decision. Tyler Austin and Shugo Maki went a combined 6-for-10 with five RBIs and four runs scored as the Yokohama DeNA Baystars clobbered the Yomiuri Giants 8-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Rookie Teruki Yoshino, in just his fourth appearance in NPB, pitched 6 innings to pick up his second win of his career.
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .317 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .301 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .293 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .292 - Yuudai Yamamoto (BayStars) .291 - Hideki Nagaoka (Swallows) On-Base Percentage .397 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .386 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .376 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .370 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .369 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) OPS .894 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .860 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .834 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .821 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .811 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) Home Runs 23 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 22 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) 22 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 20 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 19 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) RBIs 68 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 66 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 65 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 64 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) 63 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 63 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) AVG with RISP .363 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) .350 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .343 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .326 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .319 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) Stolen Bases 17 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 11 - Kouki Kajiwara (BayStars) 11 - Naoki Yoshikawa (Giants) 11 - Masaya Yano (Carp) 11 - Ryutaro Hatsuki (Carp) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club ERA 1.14 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 1.46 - Daichi Ohsera (Carp) 1.57 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 1.66 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 1.74 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) WHIP 0.92 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 0.93 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 0.95 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 0.98 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 1.00 - Masato Morishita (Carp) Innings pitched 160.2 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 159.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 150.0 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 148.2 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 137.1 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) Strikeouts 139 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 124 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 118 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 117 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 116 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) Wins 13 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 12 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 12 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 11 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 11 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) Holds 34 - Shinya Matsuyama (Dragons) 34 - Takuma Kirishiki (Tigers) 32 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) 26 - Javy Guerra (Tigers) 26 - Daichi Ishii (Tigers) Saves 37 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 37 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 24 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 23 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars) 21 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .311 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .294 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .283 - Toshiya Satoh (Marines) .279 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .268 - Daichi Suzuki (Eagles) On-Base Percentage .437 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .365 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .351 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .339 - Ariel Martínez (Fighters) .3370 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) .3369 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) .3367 - Toshiya Satoh (Marines) OPS .960 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .804 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) .788 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .784 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .782 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) Home Runs 29 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 19 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 19 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) 18 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) 17 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) RBIs 87 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 77 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) 68 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 67 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 55 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 55 - Ariel Martínez (Fighters) AVG with RISP .342 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .323 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) .310 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .307 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .304 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) Stolen Bases 37 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 27 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) 27 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 18 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) 16 - Ryota Isobata (Fighters) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club ERA 1.97 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 2.19 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 2.531 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 2.533 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 2.59 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) WHIP 0.93 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 1.02 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 1.06 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 1.10 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 1.12 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) Innings pitched 152.2 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 149.1 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 148.0 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 146.1 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) 146.0 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) Strikeouts 163 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 143 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 142 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) 137 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 126 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) Wins 11 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 11 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 10 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 10 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 9 - 3 players tied Holds 31 - Ryusei Kawano (Fighters) 24 - Tomohito Sakai (Eagles) 23 - Shota Suzuki (Marines) 23 - Seiryu Kotajima (Buffaloes) 23 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) Saves 29 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles) 24 - Albert Abreu (Lions) 23 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 21 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 20 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks)
NPB Players of the Month - August 2024 CENTRAL LEAGUE - PITCHER LHP Katsuki Azuma - Yokohama DeNA BayStars (2nd time award winner) 4 starts 3 wins 0 losses 1.000 win ratio 30 innings pitched 25 strikeouts 3 runs allowed 3 earned runs allowed 0.90 ERA CENTRAL LEAGUE - BATTER OF Koji Chikamoto - Hanshin Tigers (1st time award winner) 25 games 100 official at-bats 39 hits .390 batting average 0 home runs 4 runs batted in 6 stolen bases .430 slugging percentage .470 on base percentage PACIFIC LEAGUE - PITCHER LHP Liván Moinelo - SoftBank Hawks (2nd time award winner) 4 starts 3 wins 1 loss 1 complete game 27 innings pitched 20 strikeouts 6 runs allowed 6 earned runs allowed 2.00 ERA PACIFIC LEAGUE - BATTER OF Franmil Reyes - Nippon-Ham Fighters (1st time award winner) 23 games 77 official at-bats 31 hits .403 batting average 8 home runs 23 runs batted in .779 slugging percentage .429 on base percentage
A two-out single by Tatsuki Mizuno in the 9th inning allowed Ryōta Isobata to waltz home with the game's only run to give the Nippon-Ham Fighters a hard fought 1-0 sayonara win over the Seibu Lions at Es Con Field Hokkaido. The run handed Fighters starter Hiromi Itoh his 12th win of the year and third complete game shutout this campaign. Itoh's dominating performance on the mound saw him strikeout 10 batters while allowing just four hits with no walks. He threw 114 pitches in all. Seibu's pitching held up just as well only allowing five hits and three walks. But lack of run support made it another frustrating night for starter Kona Takahashi who allowed three hits and a walk in 5 innings of work.And although he failed to pick up his first win in 15 outings, Takahashi at least didn't figure in the decision and remains at 11 losses. Neftali Soto is now at 18 home runs for the year after belting two round-trippers to help the Lotte Marines defeat the Orix Buffaloes 4-1 in Osaka.
8 strong innings from Hiroto Takahashi helped lead the Chunichi Dragons to a 3-1 win over the Yakult Swallows at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya. Takahashi gave up just five hits and one walk while striking out seven to earn win number 12 on the year. But his ERA remained at 1.14 after he surrendered his first home run of 2024; Munetaka Murakami's 24th bomb this season. The Hanshin Tigers exploded for five runs on 10 hits off Katsuki Azuma en route to a 7-2 victory over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars at Koshien Stadium. The five runs allowed by the 6th inning ended Azuma's remarkable string of 32 consecutive quality starts that dated back to his last ten outings from last season to his 22 starts this year. He had already conceded three runs as he began the 6th but clever offense from the Tigers helped put an end to the streak. Ryutaro Umeno led off with an infield hit, then Seiya Kinami and Kairi Shimada each had swinging singles after they had showed bunt. Koji Chikamoto followed with a timely RBI single to right to end Azuma's bid for another quality start at which point manager Daisuke Miura brought the hook. Shota Morishita hit his 14th home run while pinch hitter Ryo Watanabe homered for his second of the year.
Wednesday 11 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-09-11 Fighters-Lions went 11 innings
For just the second time in their storied history, the Yomiuri Giants scored nine runs in the 9th inning on Wednesday night to score a come-from-behind 9-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp in their crucial midweek series. The Kyojin entered the 9th inning with only two batters having reached base safely and were facing elite closer Ryoji Kuribayashi. But the visitors tattooed Kuribayashi with six runs two hits, three walks and a hit batter, before adding three more insurance runs off Daisuke Moriura to collect their second win of the series. Yomiuri currently holds a three game lead over Hiroshima ahead of Thursday's series finale. Neftali Soto and Shogo Nakamura each hit three-run home runs and Gregory Polanco added a two-run blast to lead the Lotte Marines to a 12-3 destruction of the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka. For Soto, it was his third home run in two games while Polanco's bomb was his 20th of the season. The scoring barrage helped Marines starter Dallas Keuchel pick up his second win since his NPB arrival in July, who allowed two home runs in 6 innings of work. Nakamura went 4-for-4 with four RBIs. The Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Seibu Lions 3-2 on a 11th inning Sayonara home run from Franmil Reyes. Both starting pitchers did not figure into the decisions despite impressive outings. Seibu's Chihiro Sumida fanned 10 betters over 9 full innings while veteran MLB hurler Drew VerHagen, in his first season in Japan, struck out nine and allowed just five hits with no walks over 7 shutout innings for the Fighters.
Each team plays 143 regular season games. The end of the regular season was originally set for Sunday September 29. But as is custom, the following two weeks are reserved for postponed games to be made up. Barring any more postponements, the regular season is now tentatively scheduled to end on Sunday 6 October. The first phase of the post-season Climax Series begins on Saturday 12 October. The Nippon Series is scheduled for the final week of October with Game 1 on 26 October.
Thursday 12 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-09-12 Tigers-BayStars postponed (rain)
Shosei Togo tossed 6 shutout innings to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 5-0 victory over the Hiroshima Carp to complete a three game sweep and open up a four game lead at the top of the Central League standings. Yoshihiro Maru hit his 12th home run of the year for the Giants. Jose Osuna was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the Yakult Swallows 9-4 win over the Chunichi Dragons Yakult's Shu Masuda homered for just the second time this season while Hiroki Fukunaga hit his fourth of the year for the Dragons. Ryōsuke Tatsumi went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored as the Rakuten Eagles defeated the Seibu Lions 7-3 in Saitama. Masaru Fujii went 6 innings to pick up the win and raise his record to 9-5.
Taichi Yamano allowed five hits and one walk over 8 innings as the Yakult Swallows defeated the cross-town Yomiuri Giants 7-2 at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. Yamano served up a two-run home run to Yoshihiro Maru in the 6th inning but was otherwise dominant against the Central League-leaders. Yukihiro Iwata led the Swallows offense going 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Munetaka Murakami clobbered his 26th home run of the year, a mammoth three-run blast that some estimated traveled 135 meters (443 ft). There was also a miracle moment for Swallows mascot Tsubakuro who came oh-so-close to nailing his customary helmet flip. Koji Chikamoto drove in four runs to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 7-3 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Koshien. Hanshin's Shota Morishita homered for the fourth consecutive game, his 16th on the year. The result returned the Tigers back into second place ahead of the Carp for the first time since 11 July. A two-RBI single in the 7th inning by Shuta Tonoisaki broke a 3-3 tie and lifted the Seibu Lions to a 7-6 win over the Lotte Marines in Saitama. Junichirō Kishi also contributed two RBIs for the Lions. Lotte's Neftali Soto hit his 20th homer of the year, the eighth player to reach the mark this season. It was also the fourth consecutive game that Soto has gone yard.
Takumu Nakano's RBI single in the 9th inning gave the Hansihn Tigers a 4-3 come-from-behind sayonara victory over the Hiroshima Carp The Tigers were down 3-0 in the 7th when they loaded the bases and rallied to tie the score on a walk, fielder's choice grounder and a single from nine-year veteran Fumihito Haraguchi. It's been a rough September for the Carp who began the month atop the Central League standings. But Sunday's defeat means they have now lost 10 of their last 11 games and have dropped to third place, four games out of first and just one game ahead of the Yokohama BayStars for the final post-season spot. At the Tokyo Dome... Munetaka Murakami (and Jose Osuna). Murakami is expected to be posted for MLB clubs at the end of next season. Yukiya Itoh was 4-for-4 including a double and triple with two RBIs to help the Rakuten Eagles to a 7-5 win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Sendai. Hideto Asamura added a three-run shot for his 14th round-tripper of the season. Eagles ace Takahisa Hayakawa surrendered a leadoff home run to Shun Mizutani with the first pitch of the game but settled to go 6 innings and earn his 11trh win of the year. Takahiro Norimoto, in his first season as the Eagles closer, picked up save #30 on the year and in doing so became just the third pitcher in NPB history (Yutaka Enatsu, Koji Uehara) to have 100 career wins as a starter and then earn at least 30 saves in a season. High expectations were placed on Kotaro Kiyomiya after having set a Japanese high school record with 111 home runs in only three seasons but he failed to impress after turning pro with the Fighters in 2018. But since the arrival of manager Tsuyoshi ("Big Boss") Shinjō, Kiyomoya has steadily picked things up. Last season he hit for a .344 average (over 356 at bats), and though he had no home runs this season up to 7 July he has since connected for 12 home runs and is currently hitting .379 in 236 at bats.
Sunday 15 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-09-15 Eagles-Fighters postponed (rain) Buffaloes-Hawks went 12 innings
6 MLB teams had representatives at the Belluna Dome in Saitama to observe Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki but it was the Seibu Lions starter Tatsuya Imai who impressed most as the Lions defeated the Marines 7-1. Texas Rangers GM Chris Young and San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller were among those scouting the two hardest throwers in NPB but it was Sasaki who they mainly came to see. And he struggled early on, allowing three earned runs on five hits in the first 3 innings although three of those hits did not leave the infield due to poor Marines fielding. Sasaki settled and did not allow a base runner over the next three innings but in the bottom of the 7th he plunked Seibu's leadoff batter Daiju Nomura in the head which is an automatic ejection in NPB. It's the first ejection for the Marines fireballer in his 62 NPB outings. His night ended on his 82nd pitch, he fanned four batters while walking none and his fastball topped out at 158 kmh. Thus, it was Imai who shined brightest. In 8 innings he allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk while adding another 12 strikeouts to his NPB-leading total. The victory, which was aided by home runs from Sōsuke Genda and Ryūsei Satō, ensures that the Lions will avoid a 100-loss season. A bases-loaded single from Ryoya Kurihara touched off a three-run 12th inning rally to give the SoftBank Hawks a 3-0 win over the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka. It was a classic pitching duel between SoftBank's Ryosuke Ohtsu and Orix's Hiroya Miyagi that saw both starters hurl 8 shutout innings. Miyagi had the more impressive numbers, allowing just four hits and three walks on 121 pitches. His nine strikeouts included perhaps the best moment of the game when he got home run leader Hotaka Yamakawa to whiff on an 89 kmh (55 mph) eephus pitch. Back-to-back home runs by Teruaki Sato and Ukyo Maegawa in the 2nd inning were enough to give the Hanshin Tigers a narrow 2-1 win over the Yakult Swallows at Koshien. Jeremy Beasley picked up his eighth win having pitched 6 innings allowing two hits and three walks while striking out nine. It was a tough loss for Yakult's Hirotoshi Takanashi. In just his sixth appearance this season Takanashi fanned 11 batters over 7 innings.
Monday was "Respect for the Aged Day", a public holiday held every third Monday of September to honor elderly citizens. As part of the celebrations, NPB held a full slate of afternoon yakyu. Manaya Nishikawa homered in the 8th inning to break a scoreless deadlock and give the Seibu Lions a 1-0 win over the Lotte Marines. Lions starter and the presumptive Pacific League Rookie of the Year Natsuki Takeuchi was perfect through 7 innings en route to his first career complete game shutout. He finished having allowed three hits and one walk with six strikeouts on 116 pitches. It was the first complete game shutout win thrown by a Lions rookie pitcher since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 1999. Neftali Soto broke up the perfect attempt with a single to left field to open the 8th. Nishikawa's blast was the first home run by a lefty batter allowed by Lotte reliever Shota Suzuki in 47 appearances this year. After having lost their first 16 meetings the Lions have won of their last five encounters against the Marines. Four home runs were hit by the 4th inning at Miyagi Park as the Rakuten Eagles held off a late rally to defeat the Nippon-Ham Fighters 6-5. Rakuten scored four runs in the 7th to flip a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead. But following a leadoff single to open the 9th, the Fighters managed to score twice after two outs and had the tying run in scoring position when Eagles reliever Takahiro Norimoto got Yua Tamiya to swing on a bad 3-2 pitch to end the game. Nippon-Ham's home runs were by Franmil Reyes, who joined the 20 homer club this season, and Chusei Mannami, his 18th of the year. Southpaw Kotaro Ohtake fanned seven batters over 6 shutout innings to earn his 10th win of the campaign in the Hanshin Tigers 3-0 blanking of the Yakult Swallows. Ukyo Maegawa's sacrifice fly in the 6th scored Shota Morishita from third with the game winning run .